Round-up #8

A new team, ice cream, a pep talk from the gaffer, and much more

Welcome to Round-up #8, and what a busy fortnight it’s been!

The big development was that Fifa 'made false statements' about carbon-neutral tournament, says Swiss regulator.

Read this post and I hope you’ll agree there has been plenty more happening too.

Fans are up for more action

• 67% of fans feel disappointed that the teams/players they follow are insufficiently prioritising environmental sustainability. So says this new Capgemini report.

• Only 1 in 9 global football fans sees Europe’s big five leagues as a positive force for the environment says this new Brand Finance report. It also has a very useful introduction to hugely important - but not often covered - issues on stadium developments and “embodied carbon”.

• Pressure is not only coming from fans. The 2023 Deloitte Annual Review of Football Finance noted, "There is increased pressure from multiple stakeholder groups towards sporting organisations to act in an ESG-conscious manner".

Actions

• A great in-depth article looks at how Japan's top soccer league is striving to become a climate leader.

• Football Ecologie France has launched the first (and free!) e-learning platform on the theme of football and ecological transition. It aims to provide everyone involved in football with the necessary knowledge to make football greener and more responsible.

• Vermont Green FC have put out an inspiring video on setting up a new team with environmental justice embedded in it from the start, and their inaugural season.

• Deutsche Bahn has been announced as a national partner for UEFA EURO 2024 and will provide sustainable mobility options for fans and teams across Europe.

• Villarreal CF has agreed a four season partnership with Joma who will make all new kits from 100% recycled polyester and reduce the CO2 emissions involved in the process by 75%.

• Kalmar FF called on all supporters to cycle to their last match of the season. They offered a range of novel incentives to fans to do so, including ice-cream and match packages!

• 16 footballers have invested in eco-friendly boot company Sokito. One of the footballer investors is William Troost-Ekong, who also opened a conversation on twitter, with Common Goal, about use of carbon offsets in football.

• A short new video from Sport Positive explains the recently launched EU FREE KICKS project and plans to deliver new practices and new behaviours.

Innovation

• A great quote from Mya Doelling of the International Olympic Committee: “the sport ecosystem at large needs to understand that there is a huge opportunity here to innovate. To ask itself: How do we completely transform the way we think of the resources at our disposal?" It’s from this read-out of an event on sustainability an innovation hosted by Think Sport (with a great graphic to boot).

• This article provides insights on the importance of tracking the carbon footprints of events, and how innovative tech can help. You can’t manage what you can’t measure, so this is important stuff!

Co-benefits

• Manchester City fans are unhappy with the scheduling of the FA's Community Shield in August and the travel challenges it presents. Scheduling decisions like this can make it harder for fans to choose more environmentally friendly forms of transport. Climate considerations should be a core part of scheduling decisions going forward. Doing so would be better for fans and better for the environment.

• FIFPRO, the global union for professional football players, launched a report on football calendar congestion and the adverse effects on player health and wellbeing. The report says workload and travel demands are unsustainable and new formats will further increase pressure on players. Less international travel would be better for players and better for the planet.

Insights

• The sustainability leads at Millwall FC and Bristol Sport Group, along with Pledgeball, provide some very useful insider club insights on this new 90min podcast.

• Forbes takes a look at What A Carbon-Neutral World Cup Might Actually Look Like

• Play The Game has launched a call for papers for their next conference in 2024. One of its main themes will be “Can sport be sustainable? The impact on climate and the environment”.

• More great reading

  • To be updated about the latest Fossil Free Football news and their great work you can now subscribe to their monthly newsletter.

  • Andrea Barbuti has launched a new monthly newsletter, ‘Robin’, on sustainable and responsible football. It focuses on five stories each month. Welcome Andrea and the Robin! You can sign-up here

  • The latest issue of SDG Striker magazine has just dropped. There are always plenty of insights focussed on delivery of innovative projects in this magazine. The story about finding replacements for artificial turf, working with the Norwegian Football Association, is particularly fascinating.

Celebrate

• Congratulations to Forest Green Rovers FC and Bohemian FC for being amongst the Forever Green award winners for environmental sustainability in the sports sector. Forever Green is an open platform, led by Real Betis FC, that allows partners to showcase the actions they are taking.

More generally …

A Pep Talk From the Gaffer

• Ahead of key UN summits, the UN General-Secretary gave the hair-dryer treatment to progress on climate action last week. It’s a no nonsense speech making it abundantly clear that we need to accelerate progress.

• Just in case the need for more action and more urgency needs to be stressed, this report from the World Meteorological Organization on recent air and sea surface temperatures should make it abundantly clear.

Transparency and Accountability

• There are no clubs or football bodies included the updated Net Zero Stocktake of 2,000 businesses globally that gained widespread international coverage this week. Many of the issues read across to progress in the football world. Headline trend: “Net zero targets among world's largest companies double, but credibility gaps undermine progress”

• In 2022, over 13,000 companies around the world submitted information on their progress on addressing to climate change to CDP. The only clubs to previously submit information were Ajax and Juventus (though not enough information to be scored) Will any put their cards on the table in 2023? The deadline for submissions in 26th July. In the meantime, you can explore CDP’s new corporate environmental action tracker.

---

That’s all folks! If you have any ideas, suggestions, or points to make, and want to ping them over, or shoot the breeze about them, then just drop us a line.

And many thanks again for your continuing support!

Fran James (he/him)
Football and Climate Change Newsletter
@fbandclimate footballandclimatechange@gmail.com